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to place a room at the disposal of the Coroner, whenever required,
on due notice being given, nnd subject to the payment
which the Coroner is authorized to make, and does make, for
such accommodation provided elsewhere for the same purpose.
About 150 inquests are held in the Parish annually, most
of which could have been conveniently held at the Yestry Hall.
But none of them were held there, the Coroner protesting his
inability to comply with the requirement of the Churchwardens,
that application should be made for the room prior to the issue
of notices to jurymen, witnesses, etc. It is, nevertheless, impossible
to resist the conviction that if the Coroner and those who
have the control of the building had been willing to pull
together, the desire of your Yestry and of parishioners summoned
on juries, that inquests should be held at the Vestry
Hall, would have been adequately realized.
In my Ninth Report (September 12th, p. 83), I again drew
attention to the practice of holding inquests at public-houses.
The Report was referred by your Vestry to the Special Purposes
Committee, who recommended the fitting up of a room in the
basement of the Town Hall for the use of the Coroner. The
recommendation was adopted, the room was got ready, and on
the 21st of January, in the present year, it was used for the first
time. From that d.ate to the present writing (June SOth),
some 69 inquests have been held in the parish, and of these
26 only have been held at the " Coroner's Court," the great
bulk of the remainder having been held at public-houses; so
that the object your Vestry had in view in providing the
necessary accommodation has not been realized.
In the adjoining district of Middlesex the state of matters
is different, all inquests, other than those at public institutions
(hospitals, etc.), being held in the several courts provided for
the Coroner's use by the Sanitary Authorities or otherwise.
In the parish of Islington, to cite but one example, all of the
inquests (subject to the exception above noted) are held at the